VISION EUROPE “the direction and development of European football over the next decade” Nyon, April 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................4 1.1 Definition ......................................................................................................4 1.2 Rationale ......................................................................................................4 1.3 Structure of this document ...........................................................................5 1.4 Timescale and process ................................................................................5 1.5 Guidance for the reader ...............................................................................6 1.6 Main sources ................................................................................................6 2. PURPOSE............................................................................................................7 3 VISION .................................................................................................................8 3.1 UEFA’s vision ...............................................................................................8 3.1.1 The world and the football world...........................................................8 3.1.2 European football – governance and structure.....................................9 3.1.3 On-field issues and competitions..........................................................9 3.1.4 Off-field issues and key stakeholders.................................................10 4. PHILOSOPHY....................................................................................................11 4.1 UEFA’s philosophy .....................................................................................11 4.1.1 The world............................................................................................11 4.1.2 The football world ...............................................................................11 4.1.3 European football – governance and structure...................................12 4.1.4 UEFA as an institution ........................................................................12 4.1.5 On-field issues and competitions........................................................13 4.1.6 Off-field issues and key stakeholders.................................................13 5. HISTORY AND KEY TRENDS ..........................................................................15 5.1 UEFA’s creation and its traditional tasks....................................................15 5.1.1 Why was UEFA created? ...................................................................15 5.1.2 Why is UEFA located in Switzerland? ................................................15 5.1.3 Why did UEFA adopt the legal form that it did?..................................16 5.1.4 What activities has UEFA traditionally undertaken?...........................16 5.2 Key changes and trends.............................................................................17 5.2.1 Geopolitical developments .................................................................17 5.2.2 Social changes ...................................................................................17 5.2.3 Facilities..............................................................................................18 5.2.4 Change in values from sporting to financial/commercial values.........18 5.2.5 Change in structure, ownership/control and objectives of professional football clubs .......................................................................................18 5.2.6 Increase in revenue ............................................................................19 5.2.7 Development of professionalism ........................................................19 5.2.8 Legal decisions...................................................................................19 5.2.9 Erosion of the solidarity principle........................................................20 5.2.10 Development of new technologies......................................................20 5.2.11 Player/Agent power ............................................................................21 5.2.12 Financial polarisation..........................................................................22 5.2.13 Shift in power from national associations to leagues to big clubs ......22 5.2.14 Development of and changes to UEFA competitions .........................23 5.2.15 Political intervention and co-operation................................................23 5.2.16 Conclusions ........................................................................................24 6 STRATEGIC OPTIONS .....................................................................................27 6.1 European football .......................................................................................27 6.1.1 Overall purpose and structure of UEFA..............................................27 6.1.2 Division of tasks between UEFA and the member associations: grassroots and amateur football .........................................................27 6.1.3 Structural link between the different levels of football ........................27 6.1.4 Increasing the levels of democracy, transparency, capability and capacity of UEFA and its member associations..................................28 6.1.5 Approach towards stakeholder groups ...............................................29 6.1.6 Political intervention in football ...........................................................31 6.1.7 Approach towards financial issues .....................................................31 6.2 Europe and world football...........................................................................32 6.2.1 Structure between FIFA and the confederations ................................32 6.2.2 Division of tasks between FIFA and confederations...........................33 6.3 UEFA and the other confederations ...........................................................33 6.3.1 UEFA’s relationship with the other confederations.............................33 VISION EUROPE 3/34 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Definition “VISION EUROPE” is the title given to UEFA’s Strategy, as approved by the UEFA Congress in Tallinn, Estonia, on 21 April 2005. For the purposes of this process, “strategy” (“strategic”, etc.) is defined as: “the direction and development of European football over the next decade”. 1.2 Rationale • Although UEFA has always had a strategy, it was never formalised in one place in writing. The UEFA Statutes are relatively unspecific in nature and therefore do not constitute a strategy on their own. This sometimes lead to confusion and different interpretations. • All professional modern institutions require a formalised written strategy. In our case, we also needed to define – in writing – our position vis-à-vis (i) the football family, (ii) external stakeholders and (iii) society in general. • In 1999, UEFA commissioned a large consultancy company to conduct a thorough and critical audit of the manner in which UEFA functioned, both at committee level and in the administration. The project produced a comprehensive report with recommendations (delivered in 2000) and was known as F.O.R.C.E. • The F.O.R.C.E. Project created a framework for the modernisation of UEFA, and, whilst standing on its own merits, this strategy document also encapsulates the logical next step of the realisation of F.O.R.C.E. The link to F.O.R.C.E. is described below: “UEFA’s redesign was guided by a list of seven concrete organisational principles. The organisational principles are grouped in two parts: principles A to E deal with redesigning UEFA’s operational entities. Principles F and G refer to the redesign of UEFA’s governing bodies: Congress, the Executive Committee and the Presidential Board. Redefining UEFA’s model of governance should result in a clearer separation of supervision and guidance from implementation. F: Executive Committee to be elected on the basis of expertise and management credentials, responsible for strategy and control. G: Representative voice of top leagues and clubs in the governing and consultative bodies of UEFA.” • Therefore, the purpose of this exercise is to create a document that will clearly and concisely summarise the strategy in writing. This document will become a living document, being updated constantly for the changing environment – but any fundamental changes would require a Congress or Executive Committee approval. • The proposed strategy was submitted to the 2005 Congress and approved unanimously. Therefore, all sections – Purpose, Vision, Philosophy, History and Key Trends, and the Strategic Options selected – are binding (on all UEFA organs). • It also provides a framework for UEFA to put into place implementation plans that will then be coordinated underneath the overall strategy. This is illustrated in Graphic 1 below. This process, and document, deals with the Corporate level – or Organisational level – strategy and not Operational level questions of implementation. VISION EUROPE 4/34 Graphic 1: UEFA: Corporate Level vs. Operational Level Vision This document Corporate level deals with Key this level Strategy trends; History Philosophy Purpose Values; Organisation; Research; This Competencies Resources Planning Analysis document does Behaviour not deal with this level Operational level